There may yet be hope for ending the long stalemate between California tribes and racetracks on Internet poker. PokerNews.com has received a duplicate of language Assemblyman Adam Gray has floated to industry stakeholders to fill out his shell bill AB 431 from last year. The brand new bill is also introduced within the next week, previous to the Feb. 19 deadline for bills to be introduced in 2016.

The major development on this proposed language in comparison to previous bills within the state is a $57 million annual stipend to the pony racing industry in exchange for acceptance to not be operators. The draft bill states that of the primary $60 million collected each year, 95 percent will go right into a California Horse Racing Internet Poker Account, which might contribute to purses, commissions, and incentive awards to be disbursed by racing associations or fairs, and pensions for jockeys and parimutuel employees.

The draft bill also allows racetracks to function service providers to licensed operators, noting that a horse racing merchant must receive a minimum of 50 percent of the gross gaming revenue it generates for an operator.

Robyn Black, a lobbyist for the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, commended Gray, who chairs the Assembly Governmental Organization (GO) Committee, for looking to end the eight-year stalemate between the racetracks and tribes, but cautioned that the tribes and tracks have not begun to conform to the proposed language.

“We applaud the chairman for recognizing the significance of racing in California,” Black said. “I think this can be a good spot to begin a dialogue. I THINK what he’s looking to do is get everyone back to the table to have a discussion.”

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